NEW DELHI: MS Dhoni‘s impression at Chennai Super Kings has lengthy been hailed for its calmness, loyalty and unmatched management — however former CSK star Mike Hussey has now lifted the curtain on a lesser-known facet of the franchise: the off-field bonding tradition constructed round Dhoni’s open-door hospitality.Go Past The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!In an interesting revelation on The Overlap Cricket podcast, Hussey mentioned Dhoni’s room successfully grew to become CSK’s unofficial group lounge throughout each IPL season. Gamers drifted out and in in any respect hours, discussing cricket, bantering, sharing meals — and for some, unwinding with shisha.

“Dhoni is simply probably the most superb man. His room is on the market open 24 hours a day. Anybody can go up there and simply sit. He has obtained his lounge room, gamers simply sit round, they begin speaking cricket, a few of them just like the shisha, you recognize, the flavoured tobacco stuff. That’s their approach of socialising. Credit score to Dhoni, he opens his room up — plenty of gamers go up, they bring about meals up, it’s incredible,” Hussey mentioned, providing a glimpse into the camaraderie that outlined CSK’s IPL dynasty.The anecdote echoes former CSK batter George Bailey‘s earlier revelation that Dhoni usually hosted relaxed hookah classes to assist youthful gamers settle into the group. Bailey had mentioned Dhoni’s casual strategy broke down hierarchy and helped create a way of belonging — a trademark CSK worth through the years.Hussey additionally shared a stunning element about Dhoni’s preparation habits: regardless of being one of many sport’s best wicketkeepers, he virtually by no means practised the talent in coaching.“I believe the one time I’ve seen him catch a ball was after we needed to knock in a brand new pair of gloves. I’ve by no means seen him practise his protecting ever. However he bats a protracted, very long time — he hits 1000’s and 1000’s of balls,” Hussey revealed.With Dhoni set to return for IPL 2026 after being retained by the five-time champions, tales like these underline why CSK gamers previous and current proceed to name the franchise a “household” — one constructed on belief, consolation and a legend whose door was actually all the time open.